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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26138500">i non obliviscar tui</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_mind_is_racing/pseuds/my_mind_is_racing'>my_mind_is_racing</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>amare amittere [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Vampire Diaries (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, also picking and choosing which parts of canon I want to keep, also sage is danish, and which parts I dont, but basically it’s?, but in snippets because I’m lazy, but what else is new, finn and sage? falling in love?, finn mikaelson deserved so much better, idk why but yeah it happened, not too important but it’s there ig, part one of a maybe new series?, took a lot of liberties on canon for this, yeah - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:54:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,064</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26138500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_mind_is_racing/pseuds/my_mind_is_racing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Forever is a burden no one should have to bear.” </p><p>~or, the only time in Finn’s immortal life where the thought of an eternity didn’t seem so bad~</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Finn Mikaelson/Sage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>amare amittere [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898068</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i non obliviscar tui</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b> <em>i non obliviscar tui;</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>latin; </em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>i didn’t forget you</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>𖥸</p><p> </p><p><em> What a twist of fate she was</em>, he thought. So much youth, so much radiance, so <em> passion </em> wasted on an empty shell of a man. For that is what he was; when he found her and what he remained for nine-hundred years after. He does not know what he did to deserve such loyalty, and as happy as he was to receive it, part of him wished that she had saved it for someone else. Someone better. </p><p>Someone <em> there</em>. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>i.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>When he met her, he wanted to die. </p><p>Life, he believed, was a miracle. But when miracles cease to be special, they lose their meaning. He had lived long enough, one hundred years to be precise, yet there was no way for him to die. There were no blades, no poisons, no fires that could do the trick. He tried everything he could but his skin and bones remained. They would not wear and they would not yield. This body he was cursed to drag around was near indestructible. </p><p>And he hated it. </p><p>His siblings had taken well to immortality. One by one he watched as each passing day began to lose it’s value. After all, what is one day when you have an eternity? </p><p><em> Stop this</em>, he would say whenever he caught one of them draining a body without care. <em> Do you see what you are doing? Do you truly bear no remorse? </em> To this question he would receive a kaleidoscope of responses. From Rebekah he used to get a pair of guilty eyes and whispered apologies, now an eye roll and a flippant dismissal. Elijah a frown, but nothing more. And don’t even get him started on Kol’s quips and cackles. But the true surprise came from Niklaus. </p><p>Truth be told, he was always most protective over his middle brother. Even at a young age he caught the warning signs. The worried looks from mother, the endless and particular attention of father, the down-trodden and hopeless sheen in his usually bright but glossy eyes. As a younger adolescent, he tried his best to watch over him, be the big brother he needed, but it was never enough. </p><p>Mikael, the man he once called father, was just too vicious to see his gifts. Always targeting Niklaus no matter the occasion and the rest of his children be damned too if they tried to interfere. Looking back now, Finn wished he had done more. Perhaps his failure to do so is both of their punishments as all that abuse is coming back and bubbling to Niklaus’ surface now. </p><p><em> These are people, Niklaus, </em> he would plead with him, searching relentlessly for even a glimpse of the young boy he once knew. <em> Surely, they do not deserve such cruelty? </em> But instead, those eyes that always used to be filled with such kindness, such <em> compassion</em>, would steel over, all hope and humanity lost. </p><p><em> Wrong, brother, </em> Niklaus would reply as if an entirely different person. <em> They are nothing. </em></p><p>“You’re lost.”</p><p>Finn blinks as though just remembering his surroundings and his senses flood back into his consciousness all at once. All the vibrant greens and pinks and reds of spring assault his vision. The merry chirping of birds and warm rays of sunlight all he can focus on. </p><p>That, and the expectant redhead standing in front of him. </p><p>He blinks. “Excuse me?” She didn’t phrase it as a question, she knows his answer before he’s even given it. </p><p>The woman arches an unimpressed eyebrow, her sparkling blue eyes intrigued. Flipping her long braid over her shoulder, she says, “We get a lot of visitors but you don’t so look like the traveling kind. You don’t know where to go.”</p><p>Finn presses his lips together, unable to counter her observation. In truth, she was right. After getting into one too many arguments with his siblings, Finn elected to head out alone. Not only would it be harder for Mikael to catch them all split-up, but it would surely do wonders for his sanity. </p><p>Denmark, to him, seemed a comfortable and rather harmless place so long as he laid low. He’d heard from the few strangers he’d encountered that it was lovely this time of year and planned his course before he could change his mind. </p><p>Now here he was, a short trip from the docks and at a complete and utter loss at what to do next. </p><p>She seems to take his silence as answer enough and nods. He frowns and something in him tells him to speak and so, without even realizing, he finds himself claiming, “I am just passing through.”</p><p>A smile tugs at her lips, something akin to both mirth and disappointment. Her head tilts and her eyes take a moment to rake over his figure. Now it’s his brows arched when her eyes finally slide back up to meet his, albeit with much reluctance. “What a shame.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>ii.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>By some unlucky coincidence or bored higher power, Finn finds himself at a tavern when night falls this day. Call it fate or whatever else you wish, he’s not sure what he believes in anymore, but that was truly the beginning. </p><p>The alcohol helps quell his cravings. Of course there is no proper substitute, but it allowed him to bide his time before he can no longer deny himself his release. </p><p>It had been a little while since he fed, but he thought he could last a few more with some liquid luck. He hasn’t been too keen on much company these days, but he supposed he could stand it for a few hours if he needs to. </p><p>That was when he saw her again. </p><p>He hadn’t really thought about her much after that day. Just a passing face, an unanswered question. But here, in this moment, it was impossible not to notice her. </p><p>Her hair, once again pulled back into some intricate braid Finn couldn’t begin to comprehend, cascaded down to the small of her back. A few red strands poked out from their confines and fell around to frame her face. Her dress, a simple thing dyed a dark forest green with a single gold belt around the waist, was hiked scandalously up to her shins as her feet kicked out and around. </p><p>And her face. </p><p>Her pale ivory skin is flushed a rosy pink and idly Finn notices a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. Though if she realizes, she doesn’t seem to care. A smile, so wide he fears it will split her face in two, paints her delicate features and her eyes—a dark shade of blue, he notices tonight—are the brightest thing in the room. </p><p>At the center of attention, she stands, dancing on a table. </p><p>Cheers erupt around him as the patrons encourage her, egg her on with propriety forgotten. Others dance around, refilling pints and greeting newcomers as they enter the door. </p><p>Around her it’s as though everyone else’s spirits lift. No longer grounded to whatever problems they have that brought them here, they allow themselves to forget them, even if only for a few moments.  </p><p>Something eerily familiar runs up Finn’s spine as he continues to watch her, something he hadn’t felt in one-hundred years. Something he had given up finding again. </p><p>She catches his stare.</p><p>A bittersweet feeling pools in his mouth and he grimaces wistfully into his cup. </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>iii. </b>
</p><p> </p><p>He learns her name sometime after his third visit. <em> Sage, </em> one of the regular patrons whispers, her name like a sacred prayer sweet on his tongue. And how ironic it is, Finn thinks, that her name acts as her descriptor. </p><p>Sage burns. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>iv.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>They don’t speak again until long after he decides to stay, becomes a regular in his own right. Quite frankly, he’s not sure exactly what it is that keeps him from moving on towards the next town, the next blue-eyed beauty he can find. </p><p>Perhaps he fears they will not share her vivacity, that special brand of mischief he can feel radiating off of her in waves. Maybe it’s because she’s the first being he’s met in a hundred years that makes him feel <em> something</em>. </p><p>He doesn’t know. But now that he does feel something, he’s not about to lose it. </p><p>“You decided to stick around?” Comes a voice to his right. He turns and to his pleasant surprise, it’s her. Sage. She grins like the cat that ate the canary. </p><p>The question, <em> You remembered?, </em> nearly pushes past his teeth but he swallows it. Takes another sip of his ale. It burns his throat. “I did.” Is all he says in reply. </p><p>Her eyebrow quirks and somewhere off behind her he can hear whispers. </p><p>
  <em> What’s so special about him? – All he does is brood and sit in the dark. – Why couldn’t she notice me? – He is rather handsome, though. – He’s a recluse. – She deserves better. </em>
</p><p>“—ial came up?” He tunes back in, catching the conclusion to her question. He shakes his head guiltily. </p><p>“Sorry,” He laments, trying his best to appear normal, something he hasn’t been for quite a while. “Come again, love?”</p><p>She grins now, all teeth and soft edges. It almost pulls one out of him, too. “‘Love’?” She inquires, a hand falling on her chest in faux shock. “Sir, we just met!”</p><p>He wants to rebuff, explain that her theatrics are not necessary—just like he did with his siblings—but when she did it it was different. She didn’t do it with the intention of vexing him. Finn doesn’t know what her intentions behind this conversation are, but he finds that he doesn’t really care. </p><p>Sensing she won’t get a response, she huffs, but there’s little indignance to it. “I just asked what changed.” She answers, studying him intently, her eyes roaming his for some semblance of cause. </p><p>He shrugs, finding himself unable to do much else. “I don’t know…” She hums in interest and, in some stroke of luck, the corners of his lips twitch upward as if in an attempt at a smile but too unused to the action to achieve the desired result. “But I will let you know if I figure it out.”</p><p>“Good.” She winks and for the rest of the night, he can think of nothing else. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>v.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He’s not quite sure how he got here. One minute he was sitting in the corner of the tavern, as he always does, the next she’s inviting him out. His legs start moving before he can even register that he's standing. </p><p>The night is dark and it’s only in thanks to his sensitive sight that he can even see so he’s not sure how Sage can maneuver her way around. He hasn’t said a word since they left, too preoccupied by the feeling of her hand in his, dragging him behind her. </p><p>Finally, they end up at a lake. </p><p>Finn balks at her when she begins stripping herself of her clothes. Common courtesy instructs he turn around, but he can’t. Instead, he freezes, eyes lingering not on the seductive curves and soft edges of her body, but on her eyes. It’s always the eyes with her. </p><p>She may be without clothes, yet under her stare Finn’s the one who feels bare. </p><p><em> Come, </em> She says and his breath hitches, caught in the sudden constricted foundation of his chest. <em> Let go. Allow yourself to burn in life’s little passions. </em></p><p>He swallows, teetering on the edge of uncertainty. <em> What if I don’t know how? </em></p><p>Without any hesitation or pretense, she saunters up to him, her hips swinging and her eyes half-lidded with lust and something else. Something Finn can’t quite recall. </p><p>
  <em> Then let me teach you. </em>
</p><p>Grabbing both his hands and lifting them to cup her face, Sage meddles with the fastenings of this tunic and he lets her. His belt is next to go and before he knows it his trousers are gone and she’s pulling him with her toward the water. </p><p>Despite his lack of proper sight, Finn feels as though he finally has clarity.</p><p>Once settled and wading around in the water, she swims up to him. Her wet palm plays with his hair and pulls the last ties from his coils. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thinks he feels a raindrop or two fall onto his cheek, but really, he could care less. Because at that moment Sage decides to wrap her arms around his neck and pull his face down for his lips to meet hers. </p><p>That same weird feeling pierces his chest again and at last Finn is finally able to identify it. </p><p><em> Alive</em>. </p><p>She makes him feel <em> alive </em> again. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>vi.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Finn went out and got a house. It’s not much, very modest really. Barely four walls and a roof, but it has a bed and a box for him to put his clothes and that’s all he really needs. He doesn’t spend much time there anyway with most of his days spent under the covers of Sage’s bed and his thoughts lingering between the glow of her warmth and the wit of her words. </p><p>Like tonight, for example. </p><p>They stumble into her abode without much concern for air or heirlooms. She assured him that her family hadn’t stopped to visit in a long while and that there would be nothing for him to worry about, but he still ponders how just valuable the vase they just knocked off the table was to her. </p><p>Regardless, his mind is soon taken elsewhere as she dips her head to plant kisses down his throat. A grin so genuine it makes his cheeks hurt crosses his face and he brings his hands up to tangle his fingers through her hair. She left it down today, he noticed upon seeing her, something he always thoroughly enjoys. </p><p>When they first began these intimate rendezvous, he’d been nervous about the after. He hadn’t engaged in such activities in some eighty years after he realized they would not bestow onto him the humanity he so greatly desired. </p><p>But he should’ve known Sage would be something else. Something else entirely. </p><p>He places his fingers under her chin, lifting her face up to plant another flurry of kisses to her lips. She hums and smiles into his mouth, her hands finding purchase on his waist. </p><p>They were nearly to the bed when he felt his face begin to ripple. </p><p>One hundred years gave him time to work around his hunger, but Sage ignited the fire in him he thought lost. It’s no wonder the beast within him would want to come out to meet her, too. Typically, he would feed before meeting up with her, but it must have slipped his mind today. </p><p>Finn stops, pulls away. A frown flits across her features, the expression looking odd on her usually radiant face and Finn hates it. But his fangs threaten to extend and he turns his back to her. </p><p>He nearly laughs at himself, at his own foolish dreams. This is it, isn’t it? The night she finally sees the kind of creature he really is. </p><p>The night she decides to take her and all her spirit with her. </p><p>He can’t help thinking it would always end like this. What was he thinking, anyway? That he could just leech off of her fire and fervor forever? He might have the time, but she does not. </p><p>“Finn?” She croaks, her voice hard and hoarse from lack of recent use. </p><p>He moves to leave but she catches his wrist. She pulls him back, in toward her chest and he lets her. He lets her because he knows this would have happened eventually. Truly, he was fooling no one by prolonging the inevitable, no one except Sage and he refuses to take advantage of her anymore. </p><p>The vampire allows her to grab his shoulder and turn him back around to face her. Eyes closed, he waits for her to gasp, or scream, or leave him there to rot. </p><p>But it doesn’t come. </p><p>Confused and just desperate enough to hope, he peeps a hazel eye open and what he finds is something he never expected. </p><p>He sees no fear in her eyes. Unlike what he sees every time he stumbles upon a looking glass, there are no traces of disgust or disdain. No, what he finds when he looks in her eyes now is nothing short of fascination, compassion, and dare he say adoration. </p><p>His lips part and he opens his mouth to say something, anything, but before he can Sage’s soft fingers fall upon his cheek. Just underneath his left eye, they drag across his cheekbones and run down to his chin. The sclera of his eyes now red, she doesn’t seem to notice. Her attention is split, her eyes drifting every which way as if trying to commit his every detail to memory. He knows because he does the same each time he sees her. </p><p>After a long moment, she pushes up on her toes and her lips brush his cheek and the hideous dark, black veins under his eyes begin to recede. Bathed in the gift of her touch, Finn releases a breath he didn’t even know he was holding—not that he needed it. </p><p>When she leans back down she smiles, tender and calm and <em> happy</em>. Finn shakes his head. “I-I don’t get it,” He complains, brows furrowed, if only he could get wrinkles. “Wh-Why did you do that?”</p><p>“Because you are beautiful.”</p><p>Now, Finn may think she’s wrong, but she makes it so hard to argue when a smirk dimples her expression and she cuts off any other thoughts he might have had with her lips. </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>vii. </b>
</p><p> </p><p>“Why does the sun not hurt you?” Sage inquires one lazy morning while they lay in bed, her long hair down as Finn wraps strands of it around his finger, the other tracing mindless circles on her bare back. </p><p>He raises his brow, amused. “Would you rather it did?”</p><p>This elicits a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a scoff from her. “Of course not, but I have heard rumors of your kind is all. Most of them describe the sun as your enemy.”</p><p>His fingers fiddle with his daylight ring, something that catches her notice. </p><p>“Your ring?” She drawls, not quite believing. “Really?”</p><p>“Have you ever seen me take it off?”</p><p>She goes to argue but comes up short. Her eyes widen the size of dinner plates. She breaks out into a grin, sidling up closer to his side. “Is it magic?” At his nod, she gasps and he can’t help but chuckle, the sound reverberating from deep in his throat. “Is magic what turned you into a vampire?”</p><p>His hands cease in their movements, his mind going blank. Sage can feel him tense up and traps her bottom lip between her teeth. </p><p>“Why do you want to know?” He hates the sound of his voice, hates the tone lacing his words. He sounds as paranoid as Niklaus has become and his cold heart clenches in his chest. When Sage does not deign to reply, simply casting her gaze downward, something clicks and suddenly it all dawns on him. </p><p>His arms unfold from around her and he regrets the loss immediately, but does not give into the temptation. “You want me to turn you, don’t you? You want to be a vampire?”</p><p>Shifting, she suddenly sits up in the bed, the chalk white sheets falling from around her chest but for once neither of them pay it much mind. “Finn, please, let me expla—”</p><p>“Is that all you’ve wanted this whole time?” His own words disgust him and the hurt that flashes across her face pains him even more, but now it is the only thing in his head. Has she been playing him? Using him and his affections just to get what she wants? </p><p>An abstract something in his gut tells him no, his heart begging it to be untrue, but his mind is relentless. His mind, the plaything Mikael ruined in each of his children, feeds him fears. His mistrust and cynicism polluting all his common sense on the matter. </p><p>Does Sage really love him?</p><p>“My love, <em> please</em>,” Sage urges, reaching out to clasp one of his hands between both of hers, a look of pleading he’s never seen on her before coloring her ivory skin. “I can see your mind playing vile tricks, let me explain.”</p><p>“Why?” Finn asks, unbidden, his own expression one of grief and heartache. “Why would you want to become a monster?”</p><p>“You are <em> no </em> monster, Finn,” Sage proclaims, her voice suddenly steady and firm. “I care not which species you belong to nor the strict demands of your diet. The man I know, the man I <em> love</em>, could never even come close to what you think you are.”</p><p>His voice cracks then, his lip quivering in shame. “But I have killed people, Sage. I have <em> hurt— </em>”</p><p>“But you had to do it on your own,” She declares, her top hand coming up to cup his cheek as the final rays of sunrise begin to bleed across his face. “You were alone, but neither of us ever have to be alone again.”</p><p>He frowns, unsure. “What do you mean?”</p><p>She smiles and it’s something full of pity, sorrow at having to watch the man she loves punish himself for his own existence, yet it’s also hopeful. Hopeful of a better and brighter future to come. “This is more than just the rotten sides, Finn. You might not see them now, but we can figure them and find them out together. We can spend forever, just the two of us, appreciating the gift that an eternity can offer us.”</p><p>And, well, when she puts it like that, Finn finds it impossible to say no.</p><p> </p><p>𖥸</p><p><br/>Niklaus flings Finn across the floor, taking no mind to account for caution. Rebekah steps up beside him, a hand on her hip and a queer look her eye as she takes him in. “Gather your witch,” She instructs Niklaus, her voice empty and devoid of all the love he once associated with his sister. “Let’s get his blood and get on with it.”</p><p>Finn scoffs, shaking his head. “You can’t force me to help you.”</p><p>“Oh, I most likely could,” His brother threatens, a charming smile poking dimples into his cheeks. Absently, Finn wonders when in the last nine-hundred years Niklaus lost what was left remaining of his humanity. Hell, he’d been imprisoned in a box the whole time and even he can say he possesses more emotion than his once so compassionate brother. “But why force when I can persuade?”</p><p>Niklaus motions to the staircase behind him and admittedly his interest piques. </p><p>His breath catches in his throat. </p><p>The sound of clicking heels echoes and the one face he ever cared to remember during his time as a vampire smiles back at him. In her blue eyes shines the accumulation of nine-hundred years’ worth of loneliness and longing. </p><p>“Hello, Finn.”</p><p>He can’t believe it. </p><p>“Sage.”</p><p>Before he knows it, he’s running to her. It’d been a few centuries since his hyperspeed had been in use, but if he had control of it he would have gotten to her much faster. She waits for him to come, meeting him at the bottom of the stairs. </p><p>Without word, she throws her arms around his neck as his snake around her waist, and squeezes. Lucky they’re both so durable or he’s sure one of them would’ve broken. Her breath fans across his ear and the side of his neck and finally Finn feels he can breathe again. </p><p>Behind him his siblings chatter, but he can’t hear them. They’re not what matters now. </p><p>“How—”</p><p>“I didn’t forget.”</p><p>“What?” Finn asks, bewildered and still half-convinced this is only a dream. A really really wonderful dream. </p><p>Sage smiles and for the first time since she lost him tears begin to pool like oceans in her eyes. “I’m so sorry they left you in that coffin for nine-hundred years, Finn, but I’ve been looking for you since ever since.” </p><p>Finn shakes his head, kissing away the tears that fall down her cheeks. </p><p>“They might have forgotten, but I didn’t.” She cries, her chest heaving as if unused to breathing. “I didn’t forget you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>okay, hey!! so maybe a new series? idk I have plans for one for each Mikaelson but by no means does that equate to a reality so we’ll see. </p><p>I did use google translate for that Latin translation so I apologize if it’s terribly wrong. Also, I have no knowledge of the 12th century or anything like that so I hope this representation of that doesn’t utterly suck. </p><p>I really like Finn, I feel his character had so much potentially and the writers for both shows just wasted all of it. And the fact that Sage waited 900 years for him only to have him murdered within 24-hours of being reunited with him? Trash. </p><p>Anyway, comments are appreciated!! I’d love to hear your feedback! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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